Second North Side Flagship Walgreens May Open Around Labor Day

A "mega-Walgreens" that's under construction in a next-door neighborhood will soon bring the North Side flagship tally up to two.

The store will be on the corner of Clark Street and West Diversey Parkway and could open sometime around Labor Day, Ald. Tom Tunney (44th) said.

He attended a recent neighborhood meeting where he told residents the former Borders bookstore was in much worse shape than Walgreens' officials initially thought. That meant moving its opening date from late 2012 to September 2013.

“Right around Labor Day, I believe it’s going to be opening,” Tunney said. “In the renovation plans, they found a building that was in much worse shape than they thought so they are taking more time to fix it.”

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The Diversey building will be the second flagship branch on the city's North Side. The first—it opened this past November at 1601 N. Milwaukee Ave. near the Bucktown-Wicker Park border—is in a space formerly occupied by Noel State Bank. 

That branch was the scond flagship store in Chicago, overall, with the first being built downtown in January 2012 near State and Randolph.

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The company collaborated with the Commission on Chicago Landmarks for two years to restore the Bucktown building, including its decorative terra cotta exterior and ornate plaster ceiling.

The 24-hour store includes features above and beyond those offered at a typical neighborhood Walgreens location, including a "vitamin vault" that is housed in the bank's original safe, a café, a juice bar and a sushi bar.

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In September, officials said the new store was on track to potentially open before or shortly after the holidays. A couple of weeks later in October, Tunney's spokeswoman, Erin Duffy, announced the store was facing construction problems and would open sometime in the spring of 2013.

While the price tag has undoubtedly changed since its initial evaluation, the estimated cost to renovate the former bookstore is $3.5 million, according to the building permit. Howard Hirsch, president of Hirsch Associates Architecture and Planning and the mastermind behind the two-story building, says finishes will be an additional $700,000.

Once completed, the new two-story Walgreens will be modeled after the two existing flagship locations.

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